NEW DELHI (dpa-AFX) – After the World Health Organization (WHO) published estimates of deaths from the corona pandemic, India heavily criticized them. According to WHO estimates, the pandemic killed 4.7 million people in India in 2020 and 2021 – around ten times as many as the official Indian corona death toll. According to the WHO, almost one in three deaths worldwide in connection with the pandemic occurred in India.
In a statement, the Indian Ministry of Health called the methodology for the estimates “questionable” and criticized the WHO for failing to adequately address such concerns. Since Indian authorities would release “authentic data” on births and deaths, the country should not use mathematical models to calculate mortality, it said. The country also doubts that the methodology will work in a country like India with a population of 1.3 billion.
A year ago, India experienced a particularly bad wave related to the Delta variant. The images of overflowing crematoria and hospitals went around the world.
The WHO number includes both those who have died from corona infections and people who were probably infected but not tested, as well as people with other diseases or injuries who could not be treated in time due to the overload of the health systems./asg/DP/eas